Sen. Bob Smith: Pilots will have guns in 2-3 months

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Sen. Bob Smith: Pilots will have guns in 2-3 months By JOHN DiSTASO Senior Political ReporterSen. Bob Smith's "educated guess" is that in 60 to 90 days, pilots will begin wearing firearms in their cockpits. The Smith-initiated anti-terrorism measure made it into the final version of the aviation security bill passed by the House and Senate yesterday. Smith said that while compromises forced some important language changes, overall, allowing pilots to be armed is a key element in beefing up safety for the traveling public. The provision authorizes pilots to carry a firearm into a cockpit if: -- The newly created undersecretary of transportation security approves, -- The air carrier approves, -- The firearm is approved by the undersecretary, and -- The pilot has received training on firearm use in a program set up by the new transportation security agency. Smith said he was assured by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the chief sponsor of the overall bill, that the Department of Transportation veto power over the program will not leave "waffle room." Smith said McCain told him "the secretary supports this provision, and there was no attempt to dilute it. "I think everyone understands that this is what the airlines want and the pilots want," said Smith. "I was told directly and with no equivocation that the secretary supports this provision." Smith said the armed pilots provision does not cover stun guns. "There is a separate provision which had nothing to do with mine that says stun guns can be used if the airlines so designates," he said. "But the pilots do not support stun guns. They support firearms." He said the final bill requires the use of special bullets that "will not pierce the skin of the aircraft." Rep. John E. Sununu said the arming of pilots "will be compatible with the security goals of the new security undersecretary," and that "the commitment of the pilots and airlines" to arming pilots should carry assure the undersecretary will approve. Rep. Charles Bass said the compromise version was better than the Senate version, which gave the Federal Aviation Administration the power to authorize - or by refusing to authorize, veto - an armed pilots program. The House version did not require government approval of arming pilots, and in fact said that the FAA "shall not take any action" to stop the arming of pilots, if agreed to by an airline and its pilots. Smith's initial bill was closer to the House version than the final Senate version. The compromise "still leaves the pilots in third place," said Bass, "but at least they are behind the airlines and the (Bush) administration and not the airlines and the FAA," which, Bass said, "is a separate agency inside" the transportation department that opposes arming pilots. Smith said the arming of pilots is accompanied by provisions that dramatically increase the number of federal marshals on passenger flights, that call for the reinforcement of cockpit doors and installation of video cameras in cockpits. With those additional layers, Smith said, "pilots will have ample time to turn around with their firearm at the ready." http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=6760